The field of aviation encompasses many different versions of personal aircraft. The vast majority of readily accessible, affordable personal aircraft are fixed wing designs that require the use of a hangar or ramp space for storage, and an air strip for take-off and landing. These requirements increase the overall cost of operating the aircraft, and can render it inaccessible to the average citizen. In addition, most personal aircraft rely on traditional controls and require training and expertise to operate them. The degree of difficulty and knowledge required to operate these aircraft is often multiple times that of driving a traditional automobile, for example.
In contrast, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft can be operated without use of an air strip. Since their inception at the early part of the twentieth century, VTOL aircraft have been powered by internal combustion, turbo-fans or turbo-shaft engines. These types of engines, though reliable, suffer from the threat of engine loss due to foreign object debris (FOD), largely rely on petroleum based products as their fuel, and are highly complex and extremely expensive. The dangerous and cost prohibitive nature of the turbo-fan and turbo-shaft engines used in today's modern VTOL aircraft has deterred their use in the personal aircraft market.
A large number of VTOL aircraft in use today are in the form of tilt-rotor aircraft, and are employed by various militaries throughout the world. Many of these aircraft provide balanced thrust from rotors located on the main wings, thus making them difficult if not impossible to maneuver after a rotor becomes nonoperational. In addition, the overall complexity of today's tilt-rotor aircraft has limited their use to well trained, professional pilots. However, the many advantages of the tilt-rotor platform, including vertical lifting capabilities combined with the speed and efficiency of a conventional fixed wing aircraft, if available to the general public, could revolutionize the transportation industry.